Mushroom Cloud
by Hawki
Summary: Oneshot: And thus came the last days of the Mushroom Kingdom...


**Mushroom Cloud**

The last days of the Mushroom Kingdom have come.

She should have known that this period of peace wouldn't last. Once, in what feels like another life, the world had a certain order to it. Bowser, the Koopa King, would kidnap her. Mario, and sometimes Luigi, would rescue her. Usually the adventure would involve attempted marriage, copious amounts of cake, and various pieces of insanity, be they worlds beyond paintings, or travels across the entire universe. It was only a matter of time before Bowser changed his game. It's as if he started all this on a small controller with only two buttons, but he added more, with more complexity, more intensity, more plans that went beyond 2D thinking. And now, this, as her castle, her kingdom, her world, crumbles around them.

Oh for even more recent times, at her attempts at peace. Go-karting. Tennis. Soccer. Golf. Appeasements on her behalf to placate the King of Koopas. Maybe if she'd let him win a few times it wouldn't have come to this. Maybe she was just buying time. Maybe she tried the approach of party games so many times that the whole thing went stale. Maybe this, maybe that. So many maybes, of number greater than sixty-four, before Bowser made the switch from comical to competent.

From the walls, in the courtyard, she sees her soldiers dying to defend her. So long have they relied on a pair of plumbers to do the job for them, they've neglected their own efforts. Hammers are swung, pounding her toads into the ground. Boos descend from the sky as if it's the end of days, atrophying body, and draining soul. Shy-guys march with their spears outward, drawing blood with any strike, their masks hiding whatever their feelings may be in regards to this war of conquest. And in the centre of the courtyard, she hears and feels the shaking before everyone else does. But all at once see the piranha plant burst out of the ground, letting out a roar that marks the beginning of the end. Those who try to fight it are torn apart. Half of those who flee meet the same fate.

She turns away from the wall and returns to the throne room. She knows what will happen next. As inevitable as the rising and setting of the sun, as inevitable as her being kidnapped, what will follow is naught but fate. So she sits on her throne and listens to the coda of her kingdom's song. Behind her are portraits of kings and queens, who succeeded in keeping her kingdom safe where she failed. Before her is a table with a box – a final gift to her from two men she came to love before they fell in battle, so taken from their own world. And beyond that, a giant oaken door. The only question now is whether the Koopa King will burn it, or barge through it.

With fire and fury, he does both. Her heart skips a beat as she sees Bowser before her, his claws and teeth stained with the blood of her people. His scaly skin covered in armour, forged in the fires of Lava Land. Behind him his army of monstrosities – goombas mainly, willing to throw themselves at her castle's walls by the thousands if it meant getting their lord this far. But they stay put, as the Koopa King marches towards her. With every step he takes, the ground trembles. With every step is another marching of the hands of fate's clock, towards the eleventh armour.

"It is over," he says.

Even his voice is different, she reflects. No laughter, no smiles, no threats of revenge and plans that will go unruined. It is just the monster now. He and the princess.

"So long I sought to marry you," Bowser whispers. He comes to a halt, and she watches as he leers at her. "An heir of ours, to unite our kingdoms. To lead the Mushroom World out of darkness and into the future." He cackles, and casts his arms around the room. "All this time, and I could have just walked in and taken all this." His eyes linger on the table and the box in front of it. "Some paltry offering, oh queen?"

A sad smile comes to her lips. "Cake," she whispers.

Bowser snorts, smoke coming out of his nostrils. "Even now, you seek to tempt me?"

She giggles. "For old time's sake, oh Bowser? Before you lead my kingdom into a great and glorious future?"

A smile comes to his lips. He bares his fangs, and the blood on them is all the clearer. "Your plumbers are gone. Your army is gone. Soon, your reign will have gone the same way. And yet…well, why not?" He lumbers over, and with a giant hand, begins to open the box. "Tell me, is it strawberry? Vanilla? Or…" He trails off. He's opened the box, and Peach knows what he's looking at. Though given the way he looks at her, it's clear that he doesn't understand.

"What is this?" he whispers.

"Why Bowser," the princess whispers. "Shouldn't the start of your reign have fireworks?" She reaches for something in her dress – a small remote with a single red button. She presses it, and what's in the box begins to beep. And given the look in his eyes, the Koopa King finally understands.

"What are you doing?" He looks back at the box, no doubt seeing the numbers going from 5, to 4, to 3. "What are you doing?!"

"Long live the queen," Peach whispers.

"What are you-"

It reaches zero, and the Mushroom Kingdom ends. Its princess. Its usurper. Its people.

All in its place now is the mushroom cloud.


End file.
